Oct 31 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Katie Farrell The Daily News of Newburyport, Mass.

In this seaside community on the South Shore, the biggest tourist attraction is Nantasket Beach. That becomes clear as summer draws to an end: Ice cream shops close their doors for the season, and people stop visiting the arcades and games.

But in recent years, tourists traveling to Hull are coming for another reason, say some town officials. They want to see the wind turbines.

They come in tours or visit from universities. Schoolchildren take field trips, and visitors interested in renewable energy make stops, they say.

For residents of Hull, the turbines -- one of which very closely resembles a controversial turbine that is being planned for Newburyport -- have become a part of the town's fabric, sometimes barely noticeable.

"As first I didn't find them very attractive," said Denise Comeau, owner of Simply Irresistible, a home decor shop.

Now, when she sees them, it's a sign that she's home -- a landmark she looks for, she said.

"It's not really an eyesore," Lee Haran said as she walked with her husband near the beach.

Her husband, Jerry, a sailor, said he checks how fast the turbines are going to see if it's too windy to go out on the water.

"It's kind of fun to look at," he said, adding they remind him of Holland. "We like them."

It was about 10 years ago, when a group of citizens in Hull formed a group called Citizen Advocates for Renewable Energy, or C.A.R.E., led by Malcolm Brown and Andrew Stern. They began advocating for the town to put up a wind turbine, urging the light plant to adopt the project and have an impact on the town's electricity.

The first turbine was put up in 2001 close to the high school. In 2006. a second, larger 1.8 megawatt, 330-foot-high turbine was put up atop a capped landfill on the other end of Hull, a town of 11,000.

The smaller of the two -- a 660 kilowatt Vestas turbine known as Hull Wind I, that stands about 220 feet high -- is similar in size and power to the turbine that Newburyporters will see go up in the industrial park at Mark Richey Woodworking. Richey was given permission by the city to put up his turbine earlier this year, but his approval has been blocked by neighbors who have filed an appeal and cite noise, safety, height and "flicker" concerns.

In Hull, initial concerns were raised over the noise and height of the structure, but those apprehensions soon faded. Approval of the turbines passed easily at Town Meetings.

Hull Town Manager Philip Lemnios said the reaction of citizens to the two turbines has been "very positive," adding that they are seen as a source of pride for the community.

There have been very few, if any, noise complaints since the two turbines were first installed, Lemnios said. With a turbine up at each end of Hull -- which is a 7-mile-long peninsula -- they are visible to community members and tourists.

Brown, a renewable energy activist, said the town has never received any complaints about ice falling from the turbine, adding that the turbine will stop operating if the wind reaches a consistent 55 mph.

"If there's too much wind, it shuts down," Brown said.

While there's no question the turbines are large, Brown said, the taller a tower is and the longer a blade it has, the slower the turbine's revolutions per minute will be -- to the point they are closer to a Ferris wheel, he said.

"They are big, yes; they're big, but that's all right," Brown said.

For citizens in Hull, the turbines are unobtrusive, they say. Set apart from neighborhoods, they can't be heard unless someone walks right up next to it. Hull Wind II, the larger of the two, is blocked off due to its location at the landfill and can't be accessed.

"They're actually nice to look at," said Frank Lucia as he worked behind the counter serving the lunch crowd at Beach Market last week.

"They're not noisy at all," Beach Market owner Joe Agostino added. "I think they're great."

Approaching the turbine near the high school, passers-by hear a slight "whoosh" noise. Background noise from birds, cars and water traffic mask the slight hum. The turbine is loudest when standing right next to its base.

"The truth is, they don't make much noise," Brown said.

Richard Miller, the Operations Manager at Hull Light, said last week the town has had no safety issues from the turbines and he only received one complaint of "flicker," or the shadow caused by the turbines during certain times of day when the sun is in certain positions.

"As a whole, people love them," Miller said.

At the high school, there have been no noise complaints, he said.

"It's the same decibel level as a whisper or a quiet conversation," he said.

With Richey's proposal, the turbine will be 300 feet away from the Rail Trail and 350 feet away from Route 1. The closest homes will be 800 feet away.

Richey said yesterday his 600 kilowatt Elecon TurboWinds turbine has better technology than Hull's, as it's newer. His also has a protection device that will shut it down when the wind reaches a consistent 70 mph.

Prior to approving the ordinance that will allow Richey to place the turbine on his property, Newburyport city officials traveled to Hull to see the turbine for themselves.

"I was actually surprised at how little noise they made," City Council President James Shanley said this week. "When I was there, it was raining and water was flowing into a storm drain at my feet. That was as loud as the wind turbine."

Copyright © 2008The McClatchy Company